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Monday, February 13, 2017

Chapter 321 What a surprise

Violet was having so much fun singing with the kids, and she
would have stayed longer had Sally—all breathless and
excited-- not come to get her.

“Violet, Violet!” Sally
shouted. “You gotta come and see!”

“What is it, Sally? Has
Santa Claus come early?” Violet asked, while
being dragged into the living room. There she saw nearly everyone staring in
complete silence at the archway leading into the foyer. Naturally, her eyes
followed their path and she gasped.

“Perhaps you were right, Rance” Laurence
Van Gholston replied, also a bit unnerved by all the stares. Although he was
much more used to it than his son, it was still unpleasant to be gawked at as
if you were a sideshow freak.

“Oh, my goodness,
Laurence! Rance!” Violet said pushing
through the crowd to get to them. “Why didn’t you
tell us you were coming? It’s so nice to see you
both!” She hugged one and then the other. “Merry
Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas, Violet,” Rance
said, searching over her head for one particular pair of blue eyes.

“It was a last minute
thought to come and say hello before heading home. Hope we’re not
intruding,” Laurence said, looking at all the stunned people around them,
some pointing their cell phones at them, others staring in slack-jawed
disbelief and yet others excitedly whispering as if they suddenly discovered
Bigfoot, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy all rolled up into one.

At that point it was a mad rush forward to meet these
celebrities and Violet had her hands full beating them back and keeping things
somewhat orderly. It was immensely embarrassing to have Laurie gush so badly
that she was barely coherent and conversely unflappable Flora was suffering an
unusual loss of words, so all she was capable of was nodding like a bobble-head
doll. It was quite a relief when Marty and Morris sensibly welcomed Laurence as
an old friend and even though Victor was astonished to see them at his house he
was gracious in his welcome.

“Laurence, what in the
world are you doing in the sticks?” Catherine asked, her
eyes shifting from his extremely handsome face to that of his son’s. “Is
this little Laurence? Goodness, they grow up fast, don’t
they?”

“Merry Christmas,
Catherine. So nice to see you and there’s no stopping them once
they start,” he said, lightly
kissing her cheek. “Didn’t
expect to see you here. This is your ex-husband’s house, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but we’re
still friendly,” she said, casting a
furtive glance at Violet. “How did you two meet
exactly?”

“Through our kids, of
course. Rance and Sophie met in Miami, started a band there and have been
nearly inseparable since,” Laurence said. “As a
matter of fact, Violet was instrumental in breaching the gap between me and
Rance left by the passing of our dear Emily.”

“She was?”
Catherine said in unflattering astonishment.

“Violet possesses a magic
of which few women can boast,” Laurence said in a
stage whisper. He glanced at Violet and grinned to find her flushed.

“Yes, she is, and as always
is the case with her, just follow the music and you’ll
find her,” Violet told him, pointing past the dining room. “Won’t she
be surprised to see you!”

******

Simon pulled out of his pocket a small, red envelope and handed
it to Sophie. “Merry Christmas, Sophie,” he
said.

“You got me a present?” she
said, stunned. “Will wonders ever cease?”

“Just open it already and
quit with the snark,” he said.

She laughed. “It’s
cheating to open presents today, you know. It’s not technically
Christmas yet,” she said while eagerly ripping
the seal. She pulled out a gift card to Friedman’s. Though bewildered as
to what Friedman’s was, she thanked him.

“It’s not
much. It’s my favorite place to eat when in the city. It’s
close to Columbia so it’s always full of
students and the food is great, not junk food. Thought you could use it since
you won’t know the best places to eat,” he said, casually.

She stared at him. “That…that’s
really thoughtful. Thank you so much, Simon.” She then kissed his
cheek and after a moment’s hesitation she threw
her arms about him and hugged him tightly. “Sometimes you can be really
nice.”

She stared in stunned disbelief. He was right about hardly
recognizing him. This wasn’t the same person she knew so
well. This wasn’t her best friend in
torn, worn jeans, her bandmate with the long hair and tattoos all over his arms,
her confidante with the shy smile until he gave you his trust forever…or was
it? The clothes were different, the hair was different, even the way he smiled
at her was different, but it was him. It was Bug.

“Bug, what …what
did you do to yourself? What are you doing here? Why didn’t you
tell me …” she said, then she brushed all that aside and rushed into his
arms. “I can’t believe it…you’re
really here!”

She pulled back and stared at him
again running her hand over his shaven cheek. “You’re sure
not scruffy anymore! You’re gonna kill me, Bug, but
you look just like your dad now,” she said.

He laughed. “I
know. It’s my sister’s idea. Whaddaya think?”

“Well…it’ll
take some time to get used to it, but…you look good, real
good!” she said and she hugged him again. “I
missed you!”

Simon cleared his throat loudly.

“Okay, okay! Bug, I’d like
you to meet Simon Romanoff,” Sophie said. “Simon
this is Rance…uh…should
I tell him your real name?”

Rance held out his hand saying, “Rance
Van Gholston. I’m pleased to finally get
to meet you. Sophie speaks highly of you and your musical abilities.”

Simon shook his head as they shook
hands. “I doubt that. Perhaps you’re thinking of my
brother, Ronnie. He’s over there playing the
piano,” he said.

“That would explain why
you don’t look anything like she described,” Rance
said, grinning at Sophie.

“I seem to remember us
meeting a long time ago though. I was maybe six or seven,” Simon
said. “My mother and your mother met for a picnic in the park. You and
my brother got into some scuffle and I ended up breaking the two of you apart. Funny
that I should remember that now…pretty sure it was you. Your
mother was Emily, right?”

“Yeah…I’m
sorry, I don’t remember that,” Rance
said.

“You were too little,” Simon
replied. “So, what brings you to Catalpa Valley?”

“No, I wanna hear the one
that goes…hmm, hmmm good tidings of comfort and joy…comfort
and joy,” Maria said.

Jolene laughed. “I
think that’s God rest ye merry gentlemen. I like that one too. We can try that one, Ronnie…Ronnie?” she
said, shaking him out of his stupor.

“Huh? What?”
Ronnie said. He had been staring at Sophie with her friend whose hands were all
over her. He wasn’t quite sure who he was
but he had his suspicions. What the hell was he doing here though, he wanted to
know. Wasn’t he supposed to be out west visiting family?

“Uh…Tyrone,
you play for a while, Okay? I gotta do something.” Ronnie then abruptly
left the piano. “Hey, Sophie, who’s your
friend?”

“Ronnie, you remember me
telling you about Bug, my band mate,” she said.

Once again Rance held out his hand
introducing himself properly.

“Rance, yeah…you
look really different from your youtube videos,” Ronnie said, forcing himself
to stand taller when he usually would slouch. After all, when confronted with a
rival you wish to intimidate one must appear bigger and stronger. Why Ronnie
would consider this scrawny guy a rival even he didn’t want
to admit.

“Yeah, well…we all
gotta grow up sometime,” Rance said staring at
Sophie, who in turn was staring at Ronnie. “I only have a little
time before my dad makes us go. We have the jet waiting for us, refueling. I
was hoping I could talk with you, Sophie…it’s
important.”

“Uh…okay,
um…” she said wondering where they could go, a quiet place to be alone.

“You can use Dad’s
study, Sophie. You know where it is, don’t you?” Simon
said.

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Violet’s in Bloom is set in modern times in a fictitious small town, Catalpa Valley in upstate New York. The story centers around three people, one desperate for love and family, the other just as desperately holding onto the past and the ghost who unwittingly stands in their way.

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